(Taken
from the Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus series.)
“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for
they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make your
fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Mark 1:16-18
The
next step, after repentance, towards spiritual awakening is the determination
to come and follow Jesus. Christ’s desire is for each of us to move beyond a
“watch and see” type of relationship with him to a “come and follow”
relationship.
Watch
and see is best described as simply being a spectator. These individuals are
the Sunday morning followers who fill church pews once a week; watching and
listening to everything that’s happening, but demonstrate little evidence of
their faith throughout the rest of the week.
Jesus
is calling us to a greater walk with him. His desire is that we follow. Those
individuals, who chose this deeper walk with him became known as disciples;
indicating a desire to learn, imitate, and apply the teachings of Christ to
their lives every day.
In
choosing the twelve men, whom would become his closest companions during his
earthly ministry; Jesus demonstrated his desire to reach every social stratum.
He chose fisherman, tax collectors, and social activists. On the surface it
does not appear that these men have anything in common.
However,
what they had in common is another key ingredient in our spiritual awakening.
On one occasion Jesus had an encounter with a rich young ruler. By all
appearances this young man had it all together, but beneath the surface he had
an unhealthy love for money that caused him to walk away from Christ. After
seeing this young man with so much to offer walk away, Peter turned to Jesus
and said:
“We have left everything to follow you!
What will there be for us?”
Matthew
19:27
What
did they all have in common? They were willing to leave everything associated
with their old way of living to follow him.
Jesus
told Peter:
“And everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will
receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
Matthew
19:29
Walking
in the footsteps of Jesus means that we must leave everything connected to our
old sinful life behind, in order to enjoy the abundant life Jesus has in store
for us.
Pastor
Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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